U.S. SEC reports rise in whistleblower tips in fiscal 2014

WASHINGTON Nov 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission received more than 3,500 tips from
whistleblowers in fiscal year 2014, the largest number received
since the program went into effect three years ago.

The SEC announced the increase in its Nov. 17 annual report,
which tracks the success of the whistleblower program and how
much it pays out each year in awards.

Fiscal 2014, which ended Sept. 30, marked a record year for
the SEC's program, both in terms of the number of tips received
and the amounts it awarded tipsters.

It authorized awards for nine whistleblowers, including a
record payout of more than $30 million to a whistleblower
overseas who had helped alert the SEC to what it described as an
ongoing fraud.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law gave the SEC the
power to start a whistleblower program that lets the agency
reward people who report misconduct, if that tip leads to the
collection of more than $1 million in monetary sanctions.

The program was inspired in part by the Bernard Madoff
scandal, in which the SEC received numerous tips about his Ponzi
scheme but failed to detect the fraud for decades.

According to the SEC's report, the agency received 3,620
tips from whistleblowers in fiscal 2014, compared with 3,238 in
fiscal 2013.

The SEC said it fielded over 2,700 phone calls from members
of the public. It received tips from every state as well as
Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. The states where the most tips
originated included California, Florida, New York and Texas.
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